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Aston Villa did the double over Arsenal in the Premier League last season. Even a single victory in one of those matches could have been enough for the Gunners to lift the title. With Manchester City looking formidable again, the north London outfit have little margin for error as they aim to take the top spot for the first time since 2004.
The bookies made Aston Villa slight underdogs away at West Ham United last weekend, but Unai Emery’s side came away with all three points thanks to goals from new signing Amadou Onana and 20-year-old Jhon Duran, who was linked with a move to the Hammers over the summer.
Greater challenges lie ahead, not just with Arsenal on Saturday but also in navigating a Champions League campaign. Repeating their top-four success is a tall order for Villa, as even Emery has acknowledged.
The Villans were given a boost on Wednesday as it was announced that former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez had signed a new long-term contract with the club.
Arsenal were all business a week ago as their two top scorers in 2023-24, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka, fired them to a routine triumph over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It was the kind of ruthless efficiency we have come to expect from the Gunners. A goal in each half secured a win that was never in doubt as the league’s best defence last term recorded another clean sheet.
Mikel Arteta might opt for an unchanged lineup for the trip to Villa Park, meaning Riccardo Calafiori's wait for a full debut could be extended by another week.
Aston Villa and Arsenal have alternated winning streaks over one another across the past decade. The Gunners won seven on the bounce in all competitions from 2014 to 2019, only for Villa to come out on top in the next three meetings.
Arsenal took maximum points in 2021-22 and 2022-23, but failed to score in either fixture as their former boss Emery masterminded two successes over them last season.
The Gunners also didn’t register a goal during the Villans’ three-game run of head-to-head victories from 2020 to 2021, but with their current firepower, it would be surprising if history repeated itself.
Recent history suggests that the spoils will not be shared at Villa Park on Saturday evening.
Arsenal have not dropped points in the Premier League since their last encounter with Villa, who performed well against the best teams in the country last term.
Left-back Alex Moreno has joined Nottingham Forest on loan, paving the way for Lucas Digne to continue in that position for Villa while Ian Maatsen pushes to dislodge him. The best bet for their encounter with Arsenal is for the Frenchman to commit two fouls.
Digne made four fouls in this fixture in December, before conceding another two in the return game at the Emirates. That was hardly a shock, as on both occasions he was up against Saka, who was the fifth most fouled player in the league across the campaign.
The England winger has drawn two or more offences in 11 of his last 12 Arsenal matches. That has been priced into the bookmakers’ odds, but there is still an opportunity to get involved by taking a position on the man who will be keeping him company on the flank.
Digne doesn’t give away many free kicks typically, which is why we get the appealing price, but he does tend to get penalised more against better opposition. He committed two fouls in each of Villa’s matches with Liverpool last season, while in 2022-23 he made three at the Emirates and four at the Etihad.
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